Sara Schofield gets two years for hiding Robert Schofield death

Sara Schofield of Browning was sentenced in Morgan County Circuit Court to two years in prison for concealment of a homicidal death, closing one more chapter in the long-running case tied to Robert Schofield’s killing. She was also ordered to pay a $500 fine, and an obstructing justice charge was dropped as part of the plea agreement.

The sentence matters because it lands in a case that has stretched across years, multiple defendants and shifting legal strategies. Robert Schofield’s body was found four days after he was reported missing, near Gobbler’s Road in Nortonville, a detail that has kept the case rooted in a very local geography that many Morgan County residents recognize.

Kenneth J. Acree pleaded guilty in March 2025 to second-degree murder in Robert Schofield’s death and received a 40-year prison sentence. Acree had been arrested on Oct. 9, 2020, on charges including first-degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death after the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office said Schofield had been reported missing and a search had already been carried out by law enforcement, family and friends. The Illinois State Police also took part in the investigation.

Sara Schofield had agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and testify against Acree, but prosecutors later did not trust her account of events. Her prison term reflects that prosecutors still secured a criminal penalty, even though the case moved forward through a plea agreement rather than a trial on the original homicide charges.

The sentence also leaves part of the broader case unresolved. Laura Acree, identified as a co-defendant and Kenneth Acree’s wife, was still awaiting final adjudication. That means the 2020 death of Robert Schofield remains more than a single sentencing headline; it is still a legal story with another defendant and a final chapter that has not fully closed.

At Acree’s sentencing, Robert Schofield’s father delivered a victim impact statement and said his daughter-in-law should have faced more serious charges. That reaction underscores the gap between the gravity of the death and the narrower charge that produced a two-year sentence for Sara Schofield. For Morgan County, the outcome brings a measure of accountability, but not the same sense of finality that came with Acree’s 40-year sentence.